Security measures detailed for Sunday's marathon

There is no known threat to this year's Bank of America Chicago Marathon, but race organizers and city officials said Tuesday that beefed-up security measures will be in place.

In response to the bombing at the Boston Marathon earlier this year, Chicago police and federal law enforcement officers will deploy more bomb-sniffing dogs than were used in past years and will collect and discard any unattended belongings in Grant Park or along the race route, Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a news conference.

Uniformed and plainclothes officers will monitor the Sunday event from the ground and through security cameras, McCarthy said.

"We're going to have eyes on the ground on just about every foot of the marathon route," McCarthy said. "And packages and suspicious behavior will be addressed."

The Chicago Police Department sent detectives to Boston to help investigate the April bombing, in which pressure-cooker bombs were placed near the finish line of the race. McCarthy said the importance of bomb-sniffing dogs and clearing the race route of unattended items were the two key lessons learned from what happened in Boston.

Runners also will not be allowed to bring backpacks or other bags onto the marathon route. Officials notified the marathon's 45,000 participants earlier this year that they would be issued a 24.5-inch-by-17.5-inch clear plastic drawstring bag to hold their belongings. Runners also will be required to present identification to pick up their race packets.

Spectators will be strictly prohibited from entering the race route. Doing so could lead to arrest, McCarthy said. Spectators also will not be allowed to congregate at the start of the race or the finish line.

Race organizers plan to erect bleachers at the finish line, but they will be available only to ticketed spectators. Tickets will be distributed by charity groups, officials said.

The race will begin at 7:15 a.m. with the elite wheelchair race, followed at 7:20 a.m. by the open wheelchair race and at 7:22 a.m. by the hand cyclist participants. The first wave of runners will step off at 7:30 a.m., followed by a second wave at 8 a.m.

Residents should prepare for parking restrictions and road closings along the route, which will extend north to Addison Street, west to Damen Avenue and south to 35th Street, officials said. Street closings will begin about 7 a.m. Sunday morning and are expected to end Sunday afternoon.

Closings already are in place on northbound Columbus Drive from Roosevelt Road to Balbo Drive and on Balbo from Columbus to Lake Shore Drive. Additional closings will take effect throughout the week on Jackson Boulevard, Balbo, Columbus, Congress Parkway, Monroe Street and Roosevelt, officials said.